CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- Santa Barbara scored the game's first 15 points and went on to beat Illinois 71-61 Sunday in the Preseason WNIT semifinals.

	UCSB's Tawnee Cooper, right, struggles for the ball with Tauja Catchings.

Santa Barbara (3-0) will meet Georgia, which beat Boston College in Sunday's other semifinal, for the championship Monday night.

Erin Buescher scored 21 points and Kristi Rohr had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Santa Barbara (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today; No. 15 AP), which held Illinois (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today; No. 13 AP) to 31 percent shooting.

Santa Barbara led 34-26 at the half. Illinois (2-1) took its only lead of the game at 47-46 with 10:34 left on a layup by Tauja Catchings.

Allison Curtin had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Illini and Catchings scored 15 points while grabbing 11 rebounds.

"I think it is very difficult to spot a team that good that kind of a lead and then come back and play catchup," Illinois coach Theresa Grentz said.

Santa Barbara lost to Illinois 69-65 in the second round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament.

"This was a game we have been looking forward to for a lot of reasons," Santa Barbara coach Mark French said. "Our sophomores remember how disappointed they were when they lost to a great Illinois team two years ago."